iTunes activation servers go down, iPhone 3G customers being sent home unactivated, first-gen iPhone customers stuck with dead iPhones — In a repeat of last year's problems, it looks like the insane demand for the iPhone 3G has taken its toll on Apple's iTunes activation servers …

Epic Fail: Six Million iBricks... and Growing — Well this is a fine kettle of fish. iPhone activations have essentially gone down and everyone - from folks updating their old phones to new 3G activators - are stuck with bricks until traffic dies off. Reader Brent reports:

O2 buckles under 3G iPhone demand — O2 customers reported that the firm's activation system crashed this morning as they raced to get their new 3G iPhones, but the telco insists everything is going swimmingly. — One reader in West London told El Reg that the manager of his local O2 shop …

Server crashes slow lines, frustrate iPhone buyers — NEW YORK—The process of obtaning an iPhone 3G appears to be going in slow motion because of AT&T activation server crashes that have been confirmed in New York, San Francisco, and Palo Alto, Calif. — Unlike its predecessor last year …

iPhone launch-o-mess-o-rama — As you know, the Macalope's not galloping out this morning to get an iPhone 3G. Particularly since he feels like he just got a new iPhone yesterday with the 2.0 software update. — And it seems that might not be a bad idea all around.

Guardian Media Group Buys paidContent for $30 Million — In what will be seen as a new media coup, sources tell BoomTown that Britain's Guardian Media Group is set to announce this morning that it will buy the company that runs the high-profile digital media news site paidContent for a price “north of $30 million.”

ContentNext 2.0: Life With The Guardian Media Group — We got scooped on the biggest story of our own company's life. Such is our life. Almost six years after our company started with paidContent.org, we have been acquired by Guardian News & Media (GNM), the news media division of UK-headquartered Guardian Media Group (GMG).

Apple's iPhone 2.0 update is failing — Look familiar? It's what I and others have been seeing this morning when trying to upgrade to the iPhone 2.0 firmware. Apple's servers are apparently being dismantled by heavy traffic. That's nice. But now I have a brick with no ability to call, no contacts, nothing.

FCC chief says Comcast violated Internet rules — WASHINGTON — The head of the Federal Communications Commission said Thursday he will recommend that the nation's largest cable company be punished for violating agency principles that guarantee customers open access to the Internet.

iPhone 3G review (updated) — It's hard to think of any other device that's enjoyed the level of exposure and hype that Apple found in the launch of the first iPhone. Who could forget it? Everyone got to be a gadget nerd for a day; even those completely disinterested in technology seemed to come down with iPhone fever.

When you're Robert Scoble, you don't wait for an iPhone — SAN FRANCISCO—The perks of being a famous tech blogger include not having to stand in line all night for the latest gadget. — I was out in front of the Apple store near Union Square here at 9 p.m. PDT on Thursday standing in line …

Female CEOs at top Silicon Valley tech firms down to zero — OUSTER AT VMWARE RIPPLES IN VALLEY — The number of women chief executives at Silicon Valley's biggest technology companies dropped to zero this week, with the abrupt departure of VMware's Diane Greene from the company she co-founded 10 years ago.

Obama bloats Vista by 11MB — 56MB update adds five words to dictionary — We're very much obliged today to readers Hawkeye and Duncan Lilly for providing evidence that the Beast of Redmond's Vista is not the lean, mean fighting machine it really should be. Try this “important” update warning for size: